‘SYMPHYSIOTOMY IS A CLINICAL SCANDAL ON A PAR WITH THE CLERICAL SCANDALS’ – CAOIMHGHÍN Ó CAOLÁIN TD

Ireland was the only country in the Western world to practise these 18th century operations in the 20th century

What Survivors of Symphysiotomy are seeking

The temporary lifting of the statute bar
to enable women to seek redress through the courts.

The setting up of an independent
commission of inquiry that is not controlled by vested interests.

Access to the health benefits and
entitlements promised by Government in 2003 (many of which were subsequently
withdrawn or never granted) to be placed on a statutory basis.

The setting up of an independent
commission of inquiry that is not controlled by vested interests.

Access to the health benefits and
entitlements promised by Government in 2003 (many of which were subsequently
withdrawn or never granted) to be placed on a statutory basis.

GROWN MEN WEPT in the Dáil as TDs pleaded
with the Government to do the decent thing and meet the requests of women who
carry the physical and emotional scars of the barbaric practice of
symphysiotomy. Symphysiotomy was practised in Irish hospitals from the 1940s to
the 1980s.

Many of these women, members of the
campaign group Survivors of Symphysiotomy (SOS), were sitting, listening in the
public gallery.

The scandal was being debated for the first
time ever in parliament after Sinn Féin Health spokesperson Caoimhghín Ó
Caoláin TD succeeded in getting the issue on the Dáil schedule on 15 March.

Symphysiotomy and pubiotomy carry more risk
than Caesarean section. This brutal surgery unhinged the pelvis and often led
to long-term walking difficulties, bladder problems and chronic pain.

Ireland was the only country in the Western
world to practise these 18th century operations in the mid to late 20th
century. They were done mainly for religious reasons by obstetricians who were
opposed to family planning and also for training and experimental purposes. One
baby in ten died.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD spoke passionately
in the Dáil about the cruel practice under the guise of medical care.

“The infliction of symphysiotomy on women
in Ireland is one of the greatest medical scandals not only here but on an
international scale,” he said.

“Symphysiotomy is a clinical scandal on a
par with the clerical scandals we have seen exposed in the past two decades. It
may not be on a par in terms of scale but it is certainly equivalent in terms
of the suffering inflicted on the women victims and on their families. And
there is one very important and crucial parallel – that is the effort by the
medical establishment and by Government to conceal the true nature and extent
of this abuse of the bodies and of the rights of Irish women. I regret to say
that this effort to conceal or deny the truth is continuing.”

In 2003, then Fianna Fáil Health Minister
Mícheál Martin ruled out the establishment of a statutory public inquiry into
cases of symphysiotomy. He told the Dáil the procedure was only carried out
where it was felt there was a danger to the mother from Caesarean section. Fine
Gael/Labour Party Health Minister Dr James Reilly has taken a similar stance.

Sinn Féin’s Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked Dr
Reilly in the Dáil if he agreed that this barbaric act should never have been
carried out in the first place. The Health Minister replied: “I reject the
deputy’s contention that this was a barbaric act, although its use in certain
circumstances may well transpire to have been utterly inappropriate.”

The Sinn Féin TD responded:

“I challenge him to ask any of the
surviving victims if they agree with his contention that sympysiotomy was not
barbaric.

“We need a full and proper inquiry that is
open and transparent and that gives the victims their proper place.

“We also urge the Government to introduce
legislation amending the statute of limitations as was done in the case of
sexual abuse victims. This would allow the women to pursue legal action.

“We also need to see a comprehensive
package of supports for the surviving victims of symphysiotomy, including
health amendment cards for all.”

Symphysiotomy was institutional abuse

Those who have campaigned on this issue for
many years attribute its use by the medical profession to Catholic Church
dogma, he said.

“The Catholic Church vehemently opposed
birth control methods and the use of Caesarean sections limited the number of
children a woman could have. It was generally accepted that the maximum number
of these that could be used on a woman was four.

“The use of symphysiotomy was one way of
ensuring that women didn’t look to birth control.”

Adams praised the survivors of symphysiotomy
as “courageous women”, adding:

“They are elderly and frail citizens who
carry the physical and emotional scars of this barbaric practice. Those
courageous women who spoken to us have all suffered long-term ill-health and
disability as a consequence of what was done to them.”

The Louth TD told of one woman who had
called to see him in Drogheda to tell him of her experience.

“Lilly McDonnell was a victim of
symphysiotomy 60 years ago. Lilly told me how her child was killed in the
course of this procedure and of the physical damage done to her. She showed me
the child’s birth certificate.

“Like the other survivors, Lilly lives
daily with the harrowing consequences of what was done to her.

“The state should be deeply ashamed of what
it allowed to happen to these women, in my view because of the influence of
conservative religious fundamentalism.

“It should also be ashamed about its
inadequate and at times heartless response to the demands of the victims for
redress and truth.

“In their efforts to highlight what was
done to them the victims frequently met a wall of disinformation and
institutionalised obstruction. Records were destroyed or ‘lost’ and the
aftercare they deserve was denied if they could not prove — by the presentation
of medical records! — what had been done to them.”

The Sinn Féin leader said the Dáil, the
Seanad and the Government have a duty to ensure “that this deep wrong is
finally brought to a conclusion and in a way that is acceptable to the
victims”.

SYMPHYSIOTOMY: Questions & Answers

WITH MARIE O’CONNOR CHAIRPERSON, SURVIVORS
OF SYMPHYSIOTOMY (SOS)

What is symphysiotomy?

Symphysiotomy is a cruel and dangerous
childbirth operation. It unhinges the pelvis, severing the symphysis joint or,
in the case of pubiotomy, sundering the pubic bones.

There is a particular issue about its use
in Ireland, isn’t there?

Ireland was the only country in the
developed world to practise this discarded surgery in the mid to late 20th
century.

At least 1,500 of these 18th century
operations were performed here from 1944 to 1992, mostly in Catholic hospitals.

Around 150 women survive today, many of
them permanently disabled, incontinent and in pain. Some lost their babies
during the procedure.

So why were they carried out here?

These operations were down to doctors’
preference for symphysiotomy over Caesarean section, which by 1944 was the
standard treatment for difficult births. Some women were symphysiotomised under
general anaesthetic during pregnancy or to ‘deliver’ a baby already born. But
most were left for hours in the labour ward before being operated upon without
their knowledge or consent.

After the surgery, mothers were left to
labour until the baby came, and to push for as long as it took, through the
agony of an unhinged pelvis, to achieve a vaginal birth. Those who could not do
so were eventually delivered abdominally by doctors who had earlier denied them
a Caesarean section.

A wall of silence surrounded the surgery
post-operatively. Hospital midwives neglected to nurse women as surgical
patients, forcing them to walk on a broken pelvis. Discharged from hospital
without medical advice, women were left to sink or swim.

This was carried out mainly in Catholic
hospitals?

The revivalists were driven by a desire to
control women’s reproductive health. Caesarean section was associated with what
Archbishop McQuaid termed the “crime of birth prevention”. Four such operations
were widely seen as the upper safety limit.

Leading Catholic doctors saw symphysiotomy
as a gateway to child-bearing without limitation, one that did not lead women
into ‘temptation’ - that is, the practice of family planning.

Obstetricians who broke women’s pelvises
subsequently advised them that they should have ten children.

Was there no reaction against this?

It was shunned by doctors on account of its
dangers but symphysiotomy was revived in 1944 at Holles Street Hospital as a
replacement for Caesarean section in certain cases.

Pregnant women were used as guinea pigs
there in the 1940s and 1950s and this experimentation continued through the
1960s and 1970s at the Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda. Lourdes was a training
hospital founded by the Medical Missionaries of Mary to serve their missionary
hospitals overseas. The operation was also carried out for teaching purposes.

Symphysiotomy was seen as invaluable for
medical students from overseas, particularly from Africa and India, because it
was a low-cost operation that required neither hospital nor electricity.

Regulatory failure allowed the practise of
this mutilating surgery for half a century. Hospital reports detailing these
operations were ignored. No person or agency has ever been held to account.